Illustrative embodiments pertain to the art of turbomachinery, and more specifically to turbine rotor components.
Gas turbine engines are rotary-type combustion turbine engines built around a power core made up of a compressor, combustor and turbine, arranged in flow series with an upstream inlet and downstream exhaust. The compressor compresses air from the inlet, which is mixed with fuel in the combustor and ignited to generate hot combustion gas. The turbine extracts energy from the expanding combustion gas, and drives the compressor via a common shaft. Energy is delivered in the form of rotational energy in the shaft, reactive thrust from the exhaust, or both.
The turbine section is provided with turbine airfoils that are shaped to generate lift for conversion to rotational energy in the turbine. The turbine airfoils operate in a hot environment and may experience thermal mechanical fatigue, creep, and other temperature-related stresses. A cooling flow is utilized to flow through some portions of the turbine airfoil to maintain durability; however the cooling flow may result in reduced engine performance.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide cooling flow to the turbine airfoil while minimizing an impact on engine performance.